It All Started With A Monkey
by RollinGxStaR
Summary: RenjixOC Karri has lived next to Ichigo for years, she's seen a lot of strange things in that time too. Then, when Ichigo's "cousin" comes to visit, she finds herself drawn into the world of hallows, shinigami, and bounts. Can she end up happy with Renji?
1. Chapter 1

Ah, well, time for another story!

"Yay! It's Karri-Karri's turn!" A rather hyperactive teen, Suigashi Karri, jumped onto the shoulders of the Narrator, smiling widely. "Karri-Karri's story is very fun, very very fun! Lots of games, even fighting! Karri-Karri's good a jujitsu and at gymnastics! And romance when Karri-Karri finds MonMon-chan! Karri-Karri even gets to go to the Seireitei!"

Why do I have a feeling this story is going to kill me...?

* * *

A flash of pink skipped into the class room, as Karri hummed to herself. It was the start of the new semester and the fifteen year old was feeling fantastic, just like the start of every semester. Actually, she seemed to be happy all the time, but for some reason the beginning of anything seemed to make her even more chipper. "Good morning, Tatsuki-chan! Chizuru-chan! Ryo-chan! Mahana-chan! Michiru-chan!" She stopped bouncing, finally taking notice of the friend who'd just walked through the door. "Hime-chan! Where've you been?! Karri-Karri missed you!"

The bosomy teen smiled sweetly at her. "Good morning, Karri-chan! I've missed you too."

"I've missed you too, my beautiful Hime-chan!" Chizuru shouted, attempting to bury her face into the large chest of Orihime's.

"Stop! Pervert!" Tatsuki was quick to stop Chizuru, and pummel her to the ground.

"Karri-Karri was lonely over summer, everybody seemed to be too busy for Karri-Karri!" The small girl pouted, crossing her arms and sitting on her desk.

The orange haired girl frowned slightly. "I'm sorry, Karri-chan..." She took a moment to study her classmate. "...Is something different about you? Something seems different, but I can't quite place my finger on it..."

"Hehehe, you noticed! Karri-Karri's hair isn't green anymore! It's pink! And, Karri-Karri grew it out! Do you like it?" She asked, running her hands through her messy, long, hot pink hair.

The older teen nodded. "It's very cute! I didn't know you were going to change your hair again..."

The two idly conversed for a bit as the last of the students made their way into the class. Ichigo was one of the last to show up, and he was quickly greeted by a tackle from the overactive female. "Berry-chan! You made it! Karri-Karri didn't see you around either!"

The frustrated teen shoved her off. "Karri, what're you doing? You're almost as bad as my dad!"

"Where's the neighborly love, Berry-chan? You're being so cold!" Karri pouted, staring up at him with large, honey coloured eyes.

Their moment was cut off, however, when the teacher, Misato Ochi, entered the classroom. "Alright, everyone settle down and get into your seats."

Obediently taking her seat, Karri settled for dosing in and out of that days lecture. Living next to Ichigo proved to be rather interesting, especially when it came to his late night adventures. Though he'd never actually known about it, the pink haired girl had followed him on countless occasions. Going along to watch him fight hallows, have his late night meetings with strange friends, talking with ghosts, and all his other strange activities. Yes, Karri could see ghosts, hallows, and shinigami too. She didn't have any specific sort of powers that she knew about, but in Ichigo's absence she did actually take down one rather weak hallow. Though, generally, she did try to keep herself out of all that trouble.

"Karri? Wake up!" Tatsuki yelled, thwacking her sleeping friend hard on the head.

The poor girl was so startled that she actually fell out of her chair. "Karri-Karri was awake! Karri-Karri just didn't hear the question...What? What's everyone so excited about?"

Crowding around the window along with everyone else, she watched as Ichigo clothes-lined a red head into some bushes. "Who was that? And what the hell does Ichigo think he's doing?!" The tomboyish teen muttered.

The pink haired girl giggled. "Hehehe! Looks like Berry-chan's making friends!"

"Alright, everyone sit down!" Misato called, attempting to get her class under control. Eventually she had everyone in their seats, even Ichigo and his extremely strangely dressed 'cousin' were seated.

Karri was finding herself quite distracted by this new addition to her class. "He kind of looks like a monkey..." She mused to herself, fiddling with her pencil as her eyes scanned him over and over again. "A monkey that got dressed in the dark...Karri-Karri knows that's not Berry-chan's cousin. Karri-Karri knows that's not a real human either. But, Karri-Karri wonders, who is he then?"

* * *

Karri, will you just sit still?!

Karri squirmed uncomfortably. "But Karri-Karri wants to go do something! Karri-Karri hates sitting still!!"

* * *

As school let out, Karri bounced over to Ichigo and his mysterious new friend. "Berry-chan! Why didn't you tell Karri-Karri your cousin was in town? And how come Karri-Karri's never seen him until now?"

"Heh, Berry-chan..." The tattooed man snickered.

The orange haired boy sighed frustratedly, muttering something under his breath. "Karri, this is Abarai Renji. He doesn't get the chance to come out that often." He then turned to Renji. "Renji, this is Suigashi Karri, she's been my neighbor for as long as I can remember."

She continued bouncing on her heels for a moment, scanning over the red head's features. "We'll you both do have the same facial expression!" A large grin spread across her own features. "But you look more like a monkey! MonMon-chan!"

"I do not!!" Renji shouted, a blush covering his cheeks that could almost rival the colour of his hair.

"Heh, MonMon-chan..." Ichigo snickered right back.

"You two aren't cousins." The pink haired girl stated, spinning in small circles.

Renji looked over at her nervously. "What're you talking about?"

Stopping her spinning, Karri stared kindly at him, cocking her head to the side. "It's obvious! Aside from face shape and expression, nothing about you two is the same. Different eye shapes, different builds, different hair, different everything! People would have to be idiots not to see it. Karri-Karri saw it right away! But it's okay, Karri-Karri's not gonna tell anyone else, 'cause Karri-Karri likes MonMon-chan!"

The younger male nodded, while the elder simply watched the strange girl with a confused expression. "Alright, Karri."

The three began walking towards where Karri and Ichigo's homes were. "Y'know, Yuzu-chan really missed you, Berry-chan..." The pink haired girl stated. "Karin-chan too, but she didn't show it as much. Yuzu-chan was nice enough to make sure Karri-Karri was eating well, and she would tell Karri-Karri of her troubles. Berry-chan shouldn't just leave his family like that..." She scolded, waggling her finger in his face.

"...Yeah, I know." He sighed quietly.

Karri skipped happily in between the shinigami and shinigami substitute. "We should all have dinner together!"

Though he was beginning to adjust to her strange behavior, Renji was still a bit thrown off by the idea off dinner at her house. "Huh?"

She grabbed his arm and spun him in a small circle with her. "A big celebration dinner! For having Berry-chan back, and meeting you, MonMon-chan!" Continuing to spin, she released his arm. "It'll be fun! And you can have your family come over too, Berry-chan! Tell them to come to Karri-Karri's home!"

"Karri--" Ichigo's attempts to decline were cut short as Karri continued.

"Karri-Karri's been very lonely since Tanaka-san left. 'Kaa-san hasn't called in a long time either and Karri-Karri doesn't know anything about Otou-san, so Karri-Karri will like having people around!" She smiled sweetly at the two of them.

"Alright, we'll be there." Renji spoke up, staring down at her.

Her features brightened even more, if that were possible, as she hugged him from the side. "Yay! Thank you, MonMon-chan! Karri-Karri's so excited! Karri-Karri will go ahead and get things started!"

The two watched as the hyperactive girl ran off ahead of them, landing a few flips and cartwheels as she went. "Ah, dammit, I was really hoping to just get home..." Ichigo mumbled.

"Eh, you should be more social anyway." Renji grinned, nudging the shinigami substitute as they continued walking.

The orange haired boy nudged his friend back in reply. "Shut up. So why do you wanna go over to her place anyway?"

"I just thought it'd be rude to turn down her offer, a free meal is always nice. It's no big deal..." Though he was saying it was no big deal, the light tint of pink on his cheeks told another story.

Despite himself, Ichigo bit back a comment. Shrugging to himself, he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Well, just hurry up then."

The red head nodded, quickening his pace a bit. "Right."

* * *

"Uwah! Karri-Karri's so excited!!" Karri cheered, doing a quick back flip as she danced around the room.

_I couldn't tell_...Looks like you'll have a busy night.

"Yup!" She nodded, skipping in circles around the Narrator. "Even with Tanaka-san gone, Karri-Karri thinks she can manage! Karri-Karri's been cleaning up after herself and cooking her own meals all summer! But Karri-Karri still misses her Tanaka-san."

Well, now you can cook other peoples meals too.

"Will Narrator-chan want some too?"

...No, I think I'm good...


	2. Chapter 2

"Yay! Now there's time for more of Karri-Karri's story!" Karri grinned, jumping around the room excitedly.

Yeah, chapter two and I'm not dead yet, I'm on a roll!

"Silly Narrator-chan...Karri-Karri won't kill you!"

* * *

"Karri-chan!!" Isshin cried, emotional tears streaking down his face. "It's so wonderful to see you growing into such a strong, beautiful young woman! And such a wonderful cook also! I can only hope my daughters will grow as wonderfully as you have!"

Karri nodded politely, grinning from ear to ear. "Why thank you Isshin-chan! Karri-Karri is very flattered! But it was really Yuzu-chan who did most of the work, without her help Karri-Karri could never make anything this scrumptious!"

The older man smiled widely, looking at his youngest. "Ah yes! My Yuzu-chan is quite the helper!"

The young blond laughed heartily. "Oh, Karri-chan, you're too kind! It was really mostly Karri-chan, she's just so modest!"

Renji was already digging into his third helping of food. "Well, whoever made it, it's delicious!"

"Well, have as much as you like, MonMon-chan! There's plenty here, so don't hesitate to ask for more!" The pink haired teen smiled, turning to face the obviously hungry shinigami.

"I'm sure he won't." Ichigo snorted, slowly enjoying his meal. It was rather fun to watch the orange haired teen and his younger sister, Karin, as they ate. It was almost like looking into some sort weird past and future mirror.

Karri giggled to herself. "What? Don't you like your meal, Berry-chan? Karri-Karri and Yuzu-chan worked very hard on it!"

"Yeah, Ichi-nii!" Yuzu added. "Don't you like it?"

"I never said I didn't like it. It's great." He said, continuing to calmly eat his meal.

Much to his surprise, a foot quickly slammed into his face. "Where's your emotion?!" Isshin yelled, lunging at his son, only to earn a foot to his face.

"Can't I just eat in peace?!" Ichigo shouted, elbowing his father in the face.

"Oh, could you pass the steamed broccoli, Karin?" Karri asked, ducking slightly to avoid Isshin getting kicked into the wall across the room.

Karin shifted slightly to avoid her brother's foot as he and their father wrestled on the floor. "Sure."

The tattooed shinigami just stared at the Kurosaki family and their neighbor as they continued to eat in peace, despite the fight between father and son behind them. "Shouldn't someone do something?"

Karri shook her head, her never fading smile plastered across her face. "Nope, this happens daily. Berry-chan and Isshin-chan might fight a lot, but they're family, and they love each other very much. Isshin-chan just shows it in a funny way!" Renji nodded stupidly, still distracted by the fighting family members.

* * *

After a long night of light chatting and just generally enjoying each others company, Isshin and his daughters decided to just head home. "Well, that was delicious, Karri-chan, but I think it's time the girls and I head home."

"Yeah, thanks for the meal, Karri." Karin said, walking out the front door.

"Now, you're sure you don't need any help cleaning up?" Yuzu offered, smiling sincerely at the pink haired girl.

She smiled back just as sincerely. "Thank you for your offer, Yuzu-chan, but Karri-Karri thinks she can handle it! Karri-Karri will probably make Berry-chan and MonMon-chan help out too!"

"But--" A quick punch in the gut cut off any of Renji's complaints.

"Thank you again, have a good night, Kurosaki family except Berry-chan!!" Karri waved as Ichigo helped clear off some of the table, while Renji settled for holding his stomach in pain.

"What the hell was that for?!" The red head yelled, standing strait and glaring down at her.

The simple smile remained on her face. "No complaints, MonMon-chan! You need to do your share!" There was a light grumbling sound heard from Renji's direction, but he did go to the table and pick up some of the dirty dishes.

As the three tidied up the kitchen, Karri continued to watch the red head. "So is MonMon-chan like Rukia-chan?"

Ichigo accidentally dropped the dish that he was carrying, but caught it before it hit the ground. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, Berry-chan! Is he a shinigami?" She asked as though it was the simplest question in the world. The shinigami substitute stared at her wide eyed, as though he wasn't quite sure what to say. Though the pink haired girl somehow seemed to read his mind. "Yup, Karri-Karri can see shinigami, hallows, and ghosties! Karri-Karri's seen you go off fighting them with Rukia-chan, Berry-chan!"

Renji placed the dish he was cleaning off to the side and turned to face her. "But how do you know what they're called?"

"Berry-chan's never really been quiet about what they're called. Karri-Karri was bound to find out some time!"

"Way to go, Ichigo!" The red head shouted, smacking the younger man on the back of his head. "What are you trying to do?! Spread it to the whole, entire, freakin' real world!?"

Ichigo smacked his hand away, standing aside to face the tattooed shinigami. "It's not my fault my freakin' neighbor hears everything!!"

Meanwhile, so mentioned neighbor was busy finishing up the dishes. Though, at the same time, she was also enjoying the show her guests were putting on for her. She cleared her throat softly, attempting to get the attentions of the two men in her kitchen. When they just continued arguing, she decided to just take a seat in her living room and catch part of her favorite show, Ghost Bust. "Bohahahaha!!" She cackled, crossing her arms over her chest in the exact same manner that Don Kanonji himself did on his television show.

"The spirits are always with you!" Don Kanonji shouted on the television, his show quickly coming to an end.

"Oh, that was the end!" Karri pouted, crossing her arms over her chest as a new show started.

"The end of what?" Renji questioned, pushing the pink haired girl over slightly to take a seat on the couch with her. His eyes were glued to the screen intently as a car crash caused an explosion, setting fire to the field they had crashed in.

The pout left her features just as quickly as it had come. "Only the greatest show in existence! It's Don Kanonji's personal spirit hunting show, Ghost Bust! It's so cool, and Don--"

She was quickly cut off as Ichigo shut off the television and threw a pillow at her. "Don't listen to her, Renji, it's all crap."

The pillow was quickly thrown back at him with twice the force. "You just have no sense of entertainment, Berry-chan!"

Another pillow was also hurled at him. "Turn that thing back on!" Renji grumbled, attempting to turn the television back on with the stereo system remote.

Ichigo grumbled to himself, heading for the door. "Fine, you two have plenty of fun with your stupid tv! I'm going home."

"Wait!" The vice captain shouted, running to catch up with the fiesty orange haired teen. "What the hell am I supposed to do?!"

"If MonMon-chan wants, he can stay with Karri-Karri." Karri spoke up, grinning like a mad woman. "It could be like a sleepover! That lasts as long as he wants to stay! Karri-Karri has lots of room for him to make himself at home! It'd be lots of fun!"

"There you go," Ichigo muttered, opening the door to take his leave, "she actually wants to let you stay."

The young girl grabbed Renji's arm, staring up at him with large, innocent eyes. "Please, MonMon-chan?"

"...Alright, if you want me to." He sighed, giving into the light honey eyes.

"Hooray!" She cheered, dragging him back into the home. "Bye-bye, Berry-chan! I'll see you at school tomorrow!"

"Yeah, later." He called, closing the door as he left.

Renji stumbled a bit as Karri continued dragging him around the house, rambling on about different things; where he could sleep, where she would sleep, the one bathroom, the entertainment room she had. "...And if you even need anything else, you can always ask Karri-Karri! She likes to help out!"

The red head nodded lightly. "Uh...yeah, thanks, Karri."

She nodded back at him, smiling softly. "Karri-Karri really appreciates that you'll be staying with her. She's been very sad lately...but, now Karri-Karri's very happy! Is MonMon-chan happy he's staying with Karri-Karri?"

Staring down at her innocent, curious expression, he couldn't help smiling back. "Yeah, I'm happy."

"Good..." Spinning around playfully for a moment before she skipped over to her own bedroom. "Karri-Karri's got homework to do, so she's going to go to bed. G'night, MonMon-chan!"

He watched her skip, smiling to himself. "'Night, Karri."

* * *

"Hehehe! Karri-Karri can't remember a time she's been this happy!!" She grinned, hugging her chappy the bunny plushie tightly.

Aw, how sweet, now you can smother Renji with all of your attention instead of me...

"But Karri-Karri always makes sure to spend time with all of her friends!"

Oh...great...


	3. Chapter 3

And now, fun times with the monkey man!

"Yay! Is MonMon-chan gonna come to school with Karri-Karri?!" Karri asked, looking up at the Narrator curiously.

I guess you'll just have to go to school and find out, huh?

* * *

The read headed shinigami groaned a bit, not quite ready to wake up, but knowing he had to. Slowly opening his eyes he noticed something rather blurry directly in front of his face. He blinked a couple of times to clear his vision and came face to face with a widely smiling Karri. "What the--!!"

"MonMon-chaaaan~!" She greeted, jumping onto the bed with him and stopping him before he slammed his head against the bedpost. The small human giggled a bit and pulled a tray off of the bedside table. "You sleep a lot, MonMon-chan. Karri-Karri almost had to wake you up so you wouldn't be late! But before Karri-Karri and MonMon-chan can go to school, you have to eat a healthy breakfast! Karri-Karri made it for you!"

Looking down at the tray, Renji nearly started drooling. "Thanks, Karri!"

Careful not to spill the food, Karri jumped off of the bed. "MonMon-chan, Karri-Karri's gonna go take a shower now, 'kay? Please put the tray in the kitchen when you're done and get ready for school!"

"Yeah, alright!" He mumbled through stuffing his face. The high schooler smiled, skipping as she left the room. In truth, the shinigami hadn't heard a word she'd said, he had been far too distracted by the plate of hot, steaming rice, eggs, and some sort of small round bread like thing covered in strawberries and a thick syrup.

Devouring the food in a matter of minutes, he sighed contentedly. "Damn, that was good." He mused to himself. "But, wait, where did she go?"

"Karri?" The red head called, looking around the room. He placed the tray back onto the bedside table and hopped out of bed, venturing off to try and find the hyperactive teenager. He opened up the first door down the hall to reveal a neon orange painted room with a large purple bed, a small white desk with a rainbow painted chair. That obviously had to be Karri's bedroom. Closing that door he moved onto the next one, which was a sky blue painted room with a yellow couch, large television and several different small box like things in front of it with small plastic controllers covered in colourful buttons, along with several other strange looking inventions. Still no Karri, so he walked down to the final door in that hallway, not even bothering to knock before opening up to reveal a dripping wet, naked young woman. Blushing insanely, he slammed the door shut and ran back to his room. "Please tell me she didn't notice..." A curt knock on his door nearly made him jump out of his skin. "Yeah?" He called, carefully opening the door.

"Good, you're done eating!" Karri grinned, noticing the tray on the bedside table. Renji nodded carefully, trying not to stare at her body considering she was standing there in nothing but a towel. "Karri-Karri's done with the shower now, if you'd like to take one! But before that you should put your empty tray in the kitchen so Karri-Karri can add it in with the other dishes to clean."

"Yeah, I'll go do that now..." He mumbled, grabbing the tray and rushing downstairs. The teen stared at him oddly as he ran past, but then shrugged and did a few cartwheels down the hall so she could go get dressed.

Once in the safety of the kitchen, the lieutenant relaxed a bit. "Maybe I shouldn't be staying here..." The sound of the front door slamming brought him out of his thoughts, and on his guard.

"Yo, Karri! Renji! You guys here?" Ichigo called, walking into the kitchen. "What are you doing, Renji?"

The shinigami set the tray he'd been about to attack the intruder with. "Nothing..." He muttered, trying to hide the blush that was still covering his cheeks. "What are you doing?"

Shrugging, the orange haired teen took a seat at the table. "It's habit. Almost every day Karri and I walk to school together."

Suddenly out of no where, Renji watched as a flash of pink tackled the shinigami substitute. "Berry-chan! You're here!!"

"Yeah, now get off of me!" He shouted, shoving his childhood friend off of him.

"Oh, Berry-chan! Can MonMon-chan come to school with Karri-Karri and Berry-chan?" Karri pleaded, looking up at him with large, innocent eyes and a small pout on her lips. "Please? It'll be lots of fun!"

Looking down at the pouting girl, he sighed. "Whatever..."

She quickly tackled him in a hug, sending him back to the ground. "Yay!! Thank you, Berry-chan!" She then jumped up and hugged the red head. "This will be fun! Karri-Karri knows it!!" The girl then flipped her way into the living room to grab her backpack, finishing off her small routine with a split. "C'mon, Berry-chan, MonMon-chan, let's hurry!"

"Yeah, yeah, we're coming!" Ichigo called, pushing himself up off of the ground.

Renji shook his head a bit as he watched Karri run outside. "Does she always do that in a skirt?"

The shinigami substitute looked at his friend strangely. "Do what? Jump and flip around like that? I never really paid attention. I guess, she does it all the time. You stop noticing it after a while."

Nodding lightly, the lieutenant cleared his throat. "Okay...But what are we going to do about Inoue? Does Karri know?"

"I'm not quite sure. Let's just see what happens at school..." Ichigo muttered, walking towards the door.

* * *

"Hey, how come Hime-chan isn't here yet?" Karri asked Tatsuki, surprised not to see the bosomy teen at school that morning.

The tomboyish teen looked at her strangely. "What are you talking about Karri? Who are you talking about?" The teen stopped and laughed a bit, ruffling the shorter girls hair. "Oh, I get it, you're making up imaginary friends again."

She giggled to herself. "Oh, it must have been in Karri-Karri's dream then!" Sighing to herself, she skipped over to Ichigo and the other boys. "Berry-chan! Do you remember Hime-chan? Nobody else seems to!"

Placing his hands on her shoulders, he stared into her lighter brown eyes. "But you do remember Inoue, right?"

"Of course! How could Karri-Karri forget Hime-chan! Karri-Karri's know her for a long time, but not as long as she's known you, Berry-chan!" Stopping for a moment, she looked around before lowering her voice. "You don't think Hime-chan could still be on the other side of the gate, do you?"

"So you did follow us." Renji mentioned, eying the young girl. "Did you get a good look at what happened?"

Karri put her hand to her chin in a thoughtful manner. "Well, Karri-Karri saw giant doors open up and suck Hime-chan in! But that's it...Maybe there's more stuff at Hime-chan's place that could help Karri-Karri and everyone find her! Karri-Karri could be like a detective!"

"That's not a half bad idea." Uryū added, pushing his glasses up on his nose, causing a glare on the lenses. "If we go there we may find some clues as to what's going on and where Inoue went."

"Alright!" Karri cheered. "Karri-Karri's ready!"

"No, Karri," Ichigo spoke up, frowning slightly, "you stay here. We don't know what we're facing off against. And they've already taken one of us. So just stay here."

A devastated look crossed her features. "But...but....but--"

"It'll be safer for you." Sado mentioned.

The pink haired girls face grew red with anger, but suddenly, she smirked at them. "Fine. But Karri-Karri knows you're going to need her, and when you do she won't be there to help. So have fun, guys, and good luck...you'll need it..."

The four watched as she stalked away, back into the classroom. "Damn is she pissed at you, Ichigo." Renji joked.

"Shut up, she's pissed at you too!" Ichigo scowled. "Let's just get going."

* * *

Karri's day went by fairly quickly, she ended up skipping out of school halfway through lunch. Though she restrained herself from following her friends, and instead settled for going shopping. It was never the best way to spend her money and time when she was frustrated, but it was like therapy for her. It made her feel much better.

"It's starting to get late, Karri-Karri should probably get home and make dinner." Walking through the dark, empty streets Karri hummed to herself. It was already quite dark, probably just past eight in the evening, and she was having a bit of trouble carrying her many bags of items that she had bought. As she passed the street Orihime lived down she noticed the winds picking up.

Without a second thought she ran down the street towards her friends house. Just as she arrived at the apartment she saw the large doors that Orihime had disappeared through appearing again. "Sado-kun!" She shouted, watching another of her friends getting pulled into the gate.

"Karri get back!" Renji shouted, attempting to strike the enemies again, but still to no avail.

Completely ignoring what she had been told, the small schoolgirl dropped all of her bags, running over and jumping as high as she could, reaching out to grab Sado's hand. "Gotcha!" She smiled, using both hands to get a better grip on the large man's arm. Though she had succeeded in grabbing his arm, the two of them were still sucked into the large gates.

"Karri!! Sado!!" Ichigo shouted after them, watching in horror as the gates closed on two more of his friends. "Dammit..."

"Dammit...Karri..." Renji hissed, unable to do anything but watch as the large doors disappeared, leaving no trace of neither Sado nor Karri.

* * *

"Oh no! Where is Karri-Karri going now?" Karri asked, turning her attention to the Narrator.

I dunno, guess you'll just have to wait and see.

"No fair!" She pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

Ah, you'll get over it!


	4. Chapter 4

"Where are all of Karri-Karri's friends?" Karri frowned, looking around curiously.

It's a game, hide-and-seek! You need to go find them.

She jumped around excitedly, performing a few flips as well. "Yay! Karri-Karri loves games!"

* * *

Honey eyes sprung open as Karri shot upright. She was lying on a futon in an unfamiliar room, no signs of any of her friends, or any living thing for that matter, around. "Sado-kun?" The high schooler called, scanning the room. Still no reply.

Carefully, she slipped out of the bed and toward the only door she could see. But, before she could open the door, she heard the light sound of feet walking toward the room. The door slid open and a man dressed in black and green walked in. "Suigashi-san! I....Hm? Where did she--"

His sentence was cut short as a box was dropped on his head. She then took the opportunity to jump over him and dash out of the room. Running down the hallway as fast as she could, she made it only as far as a small sitting room before she was grabbed by the back of her shirt. "What's going on here?" A strong, feminine voice asked. "Did you lose something, Kisuke?"

Looking up at the woman holding her shirt, Karri smiled nervously. "Hello..."

"She's quite the feisty one..." The man she'd hit the box with, Kisuke, walked over to the two women. "I'd say that was a bit uncalled for, Suigashi-san..."

"Hey, Karri-Karri's the one who's been kidnapped." She pouted, attempting to look intimidating while doing so.

The dark woman holding her up set her on the ground and started to leave, transforming into a small black cat as she went. "I'll let you take care of things now." A male voice said, as the cat...thing walked off.

Kisuke smiled at her and pulled a fan out of nowhere, using it to gesture to the small table. "If you'd like to take a seat, perhaps I can explain some things..."

Begrudgingly, the small girl sat down at the table, a small glare still gracing her features. "Karri-Karri has some questions first." The blond nodded, taking a seat across from her. "Where is Sado-kun?"

"In a safe place. Your friends are still trying to save him as we speak."

"Alright." She released a relieved sigh, glare completely gone. "Well what about the others? Berry-chan and MonMon-chan and Hime-chan and Ishida-san? They're not hurt are they?!"

"No, they're perfectly fine! No harm will come to any of them." Tilting his hat up to get a better look at her, he smirked. "You're so concerned about all of your friends, Suigashi-san. Yet you don't seem the least bit concerned about where you are or how you got here."

"Karri-Karri doesn't care." Karri smiled, shrugging lightly. "As long as everyone is alright, Karri-Karri is alright too!"

He nodded, letting his hat cover his eyes again. "Alright..."

"Plus, Karri-Karri knows your not a bad guy, or you would have had Karri-Karri locked up!" Smiling wider, she leaned forward a bit. "Hat-chan has to be nice! Karri-Karri just knows it!"

A smile formed across his own lips. "Quite the judge of character..."

Jumping up enthusiastically, she grinned. "Great! If that's all Hat-chan needs, Karri-Karri will be going now..."

"I'm afraid you can't." Kisuke said, rising to his feet to stop the hyperactive girl from leaving. She stared up at him with her best puppy dog look, but he ignored it. "Things are going on that cannot be stopped. You returning to your life at the moment could ruin them, so if you would, just stay here a little bit longer."

"But...but...but..." She frowned, looking up at him with teary eyes.

He chuckled lightly to himself. "Crocodile tears won't sway me. Perhaps Tessai could make us something sweet to eat..."

In a split second she was already back at the table. "Alright, Karri-Karri will stay. But only because Hat-chan insisted!"

* * *

I want something sweet...

"Karri-Karri would share if she could!" She grinned, stuffing her face a bit more.

Fine then. I'll just go eat some cookies.

* * *

"Where's Karri, then? And all the students?" Ichigo asked. It was fairly late that evening, and Ichigo and company were at Urahara Shouten so Kisuke could explain what had been going on.

Ririn cleared her throat. "Your classmates are all safe, they should be watching the stars about now."

"As for Suigashi-san..." Kisuke began.

"Karri-Karri's right here!!" Karri shouted, running into the room and tackling Ichigo in a flying hug.

Their voices overlapped as Ichigo attempted to pry off his over emotional neighbor. "Oh, Berry-chan, Karri-Karri missed you!"

"What do you think you're doing, Karri?! Get off me!!!"

"What?! So Berry-chan didn't miss Karri-Karri at all!? Karri-Karri's so hurt!!"

"No, I did, but you're crushing me!"

"What so now she's to big to hug you?! Fine, Karri-Karri won't ever hug you again! Berry-chan's so cruel!! In fact, Karri-Karri won't talk to you anymore either!" Hopping off of him, she walked over and took a seat next to Renji.

"Fine! I like it that way anyway!" Ichigo shouted, sitting upright with a large scowl spread across his features.

"..." She just sat there in silence.

"What were you doing here anyway?!"

"..." Sticking to what she said, she continued sitting in silence.

Rolling his eyes, he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Fine, don't talk to me!" She suddenly rose to her feet, turning and leaving without saying a word. "Hey, wait!" Completely ignoring her orange haired classmate she continued on, leaving the store and heading into the city.

Smiling lightly, she knew by tomorrow Ichigo would storm into her house, scowling more than usual, and muttering a quick "I'm sorry" like he always did when she was mad at him. He really did have no clue when it came to women, but he knew when he had to apologize, and that was good enough for her.

"Hey, girl, give me all your money! Now!!" A man dressed in jeans and a dark hoodie stumbled out of an alleyway, holding up a small knife.

The small teen stared at him blankly. "Sorry, Karri-Karri left all of her money at home!"

He muttered to himself for a moment before running at her with the knife. "You lying bitch!!!"

Very carefully, Karri side-stepped, grabbing his arm and twisting it just enough to make him drop the knife. "You're ruining Karri-Karri's mood! Now go away!!" Grabbing his other arm, she used his own weight against him and flipped him onto the ground. "You aren't very nice, mugger man, but Karri-Karri doesn't feel like beating you up right now, so just go home."

"Alright! Alright! I'm leaving!!!" The mugger shouted, stumbling a bit as he ran off into the distance.

Karri smiled once again. "Stupid person, now time for Karri-Karri to get home!"

"Remind me never to get in a fight with you." Renji grinned, running over to catch up with her. "You're a fighter."

"Only when Karri-Karri has to. That was the whole point of her training!" She smiled, continuing to skip along. "What about MonMon-chan? You fight a lot, what do you fight for?"

The red head looked off into the distance thoughtfully. "My friends...and the ones I love."

A soft smile crossed her features. "That's a good thing to fight for. That's very good..." Happily, she placed her hand in his pulling him a bit. "Hurry, MonMon-chan! If Karri-Karri and MonMon-chan get home soon they might be able to catch the ending of Ghost Bust!"

Blushing like mad, he tried to hide it as best he could. "A-alright..." But as he looked down at her, he couldn't help but feel nervous and confused. What the hell was going on with him?

Despite his frustrations, the two ran down the street, happy just to be together.

* * *

Wow, that was really gay...

"Karri-Karri thinks it was sweet!" Karri sighed, smiling goofily.

Yep, it's all emotion-y and feeling...y...

"Oh! Oh!" She waved her hand to get the Narrator's attention. "Does that mean MonMon-chan likes Karri-Karri?!"

You'll just have to wait and see. 'Cause I'm just evil like that.


	5. Chapter 5

I can't believe I didn't get the job...

"I'm sorry, Narrator-chan." Karri said, patting the Narrator lightly on her back. "I hope things get better for you."

Yeah, me too...

* * *

Karri sighed happily, snuggling closer to the surprisingly warm object next to her. She couldn't quite remember what she was sleeping next to, but she did know whatever it was, she liked it. She felt two strong arms wrap around her and pull her closer to the warmth. "Mmm..." The pink haired teen sighed, opening her eyes to find a mess of red in her face. "MonMon-chan...?"

Renji grunted in reply. "I'm sleeping..." The shinigami muttered, pulling her closer as he rolled over on the couch.

Giggling lightly, she smiled up at him, taking a moment to admire his sharp features. The red head was extremely handsome, and Karri wouldn't be ashamed to admit it. But they had overslept, and she never had been crazy about sleeping in. "MonMon-chan, you have your hands on Karri-Karri's chest..."

"Then don't wake me up..." He smiled, squeezing her breasts softly.

A shiver ran down her spine as he continued to rub her chest. "No, in real life, MonMon-chan...It's not a dream..."

Brown eyes sprung open as he looked down at the young girl he had just been groping. A deep red spread from ear to ear as he released her chest from his soft hold. "Ah!! I-I'm sorry!!! I didn't mean it!!"

She giggled lightly at him, leaning up and placing a careful kiss on his cheek. "Karri-Karri doesn't really mind..." The blush on his cheeks only seemed to grow worse with that. "Well, Karri-Karri and MonMon-chan slept in too late, so why don't they stay home today?"

"Uh...a-alright..." Rubbing his cheek lightly, he looked away embarrassedly.

Stretching softly as she stood, Karri yawned loudly. "Karri-Karri's gonna go make breakfast, 'kay? Does MonMon-chan want some?"

He nodded. "Y-yeah." Watching as the teen skipped out of the room, the blush only seemed to get worse when he caught a glimpse of her pink polka dot panties. "How is she always like that?"

Karri hopped down the steps, three at a time, and skipped into the kitchen. Flipping over to her refrigerator, she popped the door open and pulled out a box of frozen eggos. "Karri-Karri thinks a simple breakfast will suffice..." She said to herself, pulling out four of them and stuffing them into her toaster oven. Placing the box of what was left back into the freezer she then turned to watch the food.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her wrist as Renji spun her around to face him. "Is there something I can help you with, MonMon-chan?"

He stared down at her, trying to figure out just how to put what he wanted to say into words. "I don't get it..."

Leaning up suddenly, she pressed her lips lightly against his. It was soft and simple, and almost a bit tentative, but it was a kiss nonetheless. By the time she pulled back, the red head was still trying to register what had just happened. "Did that help?"

A small nod was his reply as a blush covered his cheeks. "A bit."

Her smile widened as she leaned up to kiss him again. "That's good..." She breathed against his lips, then closing the small gap between them. This time he was more prepared, actually kissing back instead of standing there like and idiot.

They broke apart when a loud popping noise nearly caused Renji to jump out of his skin. "It's okay, MonMon-chan." Karri smiled sweetly, pulling out two plates to put the small waffles on. Smothering them both in syrup and strawberries, she takes them over to her small table. "They're tasty! Try some!"

Picking up the small waffle with his fork, Renji quickly shoved the entire thing into his mouth. "They're great!" He grinned, stuffing his face with the other one.

"Good, have as much as you want!" Placing the other two onto his plate, she got up to go make more. "Karri-Karri always has lots of them in her freezer!" Pulling out the box of eggos, she suddenly stopped. Her smile faded as she stared off into the distance.

"Karri?" The shinigami stood, walking over to her and waving his hand in her face. "You okay?"

Suddenly, she seemed to snap back to reality staring wide eyed at her friend. "Berry-chan's in trouble!! C'mon, MonMon-chan!"

Nodding curtly, Renji pulled out his soul candy, popping one of the pills into his mouth. "Let's go!"

* * *

Oh noes, time for fighting!

"Karri-Karri will help them!" She said, striking a fighting pose

Good luck with that...

* * *

Quickly appearing, with several people from Urahara Shouten, Karri paled considerably. "Eeeeek!!!!" She screeched, jumping onto Renji's back. "Karri-Karri hates snakes!!!! She just hates them!!"

"Karri...Renji..." Ichigo's eyes widened, staring at his friends.

"What happened to Ishida-san?!" The pink haired teen asked, watching in horror as a large snake pulled the Quincy away. Tightening her grip on Renji's robes for a moment, she released her death hold and shot off after the snake and her friend. "MonMon-chan, help him!!"

"Wait, Karri!!" Renji shouted, attempting to hold her back, but missing her arm by only inches.

Luckily, Sado quickly grabbed her before she could reach Uryū. "It's not safe." He said quietly, holding the small girl as she struggled in his firm grasp.

A flash of fire appeared, chasing away some of the snakes. When she opened her eyes, there was a new person there, a woman, who was holding the unconscious Quincy. "What the..." As the fire cleared away, she noticed the woman and Uryū had both vanished. "Ishida-san..."

Suddenly, the small girl from Urahara Shouten began firing at the remaining snakes and the man who controls them. But Karri really didn't care, she was far too caught up in her worry over Uryū, and her curiosity of who that woman was. "Karri? What were you doing?!" Renji asked, frowning as he looked down at her.

"Karri-Karri was just trying to help! No one was doing anything to help him!!" She frowned back, holding clenched fists at her sides. "Karri-Karri's going to go find Ishida-san, even if nobody wants to help."

And with that, she stormed off into the city, not quite sure where to look, but determined to find him nonetheless.

* * *

"Ah...Karri-Karri's so tired..." She sighed, laying her head back against the back of her chair.

Well, you were looking for him for quite a while.

"Don't remind Karri-Karri."

* * *

It was rather dark, obviously it had to be extremely late. But still, Karri continued to trudge on through the city. She couldn't help but curse her stubbornness and determination, though she still wasn't ready to stop anytime soon. "Maybe Karri-Karri should try the hospital again..." She muttered, staring up at the large building. Suddenly a large explosion shattered all windows on one of the higher floors as steam poured out of the now broken windows. "Yup, that's definitely them, most likely Berry-chan's fault..."

Running into the large hospital, she quickly turned the corner, only to run into, and knock down, a tall, firm chested man. "Karri!?" Ichigo shouted, looking up at the teen laying on his chest.

"Finally! Karri-Karri looked all over for you guys!" The pink haired girl smiled, looking down at her neighbor and friend.

"No time to talk!" Renji said, picking up the small girl and tossing her over his shoulder. "We gotta go!!" The group ran through the hospital, until they reached the exit. Bursting through the doors to freedom, the whole group stopped, staring in horror at what awaited them.

"Rain..." Ichigo muttered, narrowing his eyes at the liquid falling from the sky. The water rose from the ground and began attacking the group again. "Chad!! Inoue! Get Ishida out of here! You too, Karri! Karri?!"

To his surprise, Karri was currently _inside_ the water doll. She seemed to be swimming through it, trying to get to the caps controlling the doll. "Karri!" Renji shouted, jumping up and slashing through the water to release her.

Falling to the ground, she landed softly on her feet. "Karri-Karri almost had it!!" She scowled, glaring at the doll as it reformed and began going after Sado, Orihime, and Uryū.

"Let's go!" Rukia shouted, running after the two children and their dolls.

As the four ran off, they quickly caught up to their friends to continue the fight. It was then that the doll, split into several different bubbles of water. "What are they...?!" Karri was quickly cut off when one of those bubbles flew into her nose, cutting off her ability to breath. Her head spun, the lack of oxygen really getting to her, causing her legs to feel weak and her vision to blur. "Karri...Karri...won't die...like..this..." She choked out, falling to her knees and supporting herself with her arms. Watching her friends as they too suffered from lack of oxygen, the teen had to close her eyes.

They couldn't die like that, they just couldn't!

* * *

"Can't...breath..." Karri gasped, holding her hands to her face.

Oh...that sucks. You'll just have to hold on until the next chapter...

"...Damn you...."


	6. Chapter 6

"Still...not...breathing..." Karri choked, holding her throat.

Oh, oh right. I forgot that you weren't breathing throughout this whole thing. Hahaha, my bad!

She looked at the Narrator miserably. "Please...continue...."

* * *

Staring helplessly as her friends all fell to the ground Karri began to cry. It seemed like she couldn't do anything after all. "Why? It isn't supposed to end like this..."

Fear filled the small teen as she stared at the water dolls. It was all those caps! Those damn bottle caps were the reason they would die! It wasn't fair that something so small and insignificant would be the death of all of them. "Disappear!!" Karri shouted, praying that by some miracle they would survive this.

A sudden golden light shot out from the middle of the dolls. It seemed to surround the bottle caps for a moment before it imploded. The six of them simultaneously coughed up mouthfuls of water, finally being able to breathe again.

Ichigo pushed himself up, looking over at his long time friend and gasping in deep breaths. "What the...hell was that...Karri!?"

In all honesty she wasn't exactly sure either. She hadn't even been sure what was going on, all she could really think of was that fear of losing everyone and that prayer for a miracle. "Karri-Karri just wanted it...to go away..." Surprisingly she felt more tears drip as she watched the two young boys fade away. "What did Karri-Karri do, Berry-chan? What did she do?"

Renji was the first to speak. He placed his arm around her shoulders and helped her up. "You fought for your friends. And you saved all of us."

Though the tears hadn't stopped, the painful expression she held softened noticeably. "Where is Ishida?" Sado spoke up, looking around for their sickly friend.

"He's gone?!" Ichigo looked around quickly, hoping to sense his reiatsu.

"That bount came." Rukia muttered. "She was here, she must have taken him somewhere."

Sighing frustratedly the orange haired shinigami ran off into the city. "C'mon! We've gotta find him!" Rukia, Orihime, Sado, and the modified souls all ran with him, but for some reason Karri couldn't move.

"C'mon, Karri!" Renji said, attempting to pull her along with, but she wouldn't budge.

"K-Karri-Karri's legs won't move, MonMon-chan!" Her voice sounded panicked. Obviously this fear had really gotten to her, along with the pain she felt knowing that she had killed those two bounts. "Why is this happening?"

Quickly picking up the small girl and setting her on his back, Renji started after their friends. "I'll take care of you, Karri, I promise."

She buried her face in his back, holding his shoulders tightly. "Okay..."

* * *

Somehow Karri ended up at Urahara Shouten. She had told Ichigo she would be going to school like a normal teenage girl, but she couldn't be there with her friends out and fighting those bounts like that.

"Ah, Karri-chan! I've been expecting you." Kisuke greeted, standing by the entrance using his fan to hide the majority of his face.

"You were expecting Karri-Karri?" She asked, watching his expression as he led her into the back of the store. "Then Hat-chan knows about..."

"Your power? Yes, I did hear about that. It sounds very interesting." The shop owner added, taking a seat at the small table in the back. "Actually, I was hoping you would let me study it a bit."

Lowering her eyes, the small teen took a seat next to him. "Karri-Karri's not even sure how she did it. And..." Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, she looked up at him. "If Karri-Karri is going to kill people with it, she doesn't want this power!"

"I see. A power like that can do great good if it has been trained right." Taking on of the cups that Tessai had set down for them, he took a sip of the tea. "You could save many people with it."

Ignoring the cup that had been presented to her, Karri stood up. "But can't Karri-Karri save people without killing others?!"

Tears that she hadn't even noticed began to drip down her cheeks. Kisuke's hat shaded his eyes. "You really feel strongly about this, don't you? Well, if you want my help so you can know what you're doing, I'll gladly give it. But...You will need to face your fears and show true strength."

Her small hands had become balled into fists. Though she sat back down at the table nonetheless. "...Can Karri-Karri help MonMon-chan and Berry-chan if she learns how to use these powers?"

The question seemed less hesitant than he would have thought. "Well, yes, it should be helpful to both Abarai-kun and Kurosaki-kun--"

"Alright." She stated, taking the tea and taking a sip of it. "Karri-Karri will definitely learn how to control this so she can be helpful to MonMon-chan and Berry-chan. Karri-Karri doesn't want to hold them back anymore, she wants be out there saving her friends!"

The determination shone brightly on her features as she thought of everything she could do to help her friends. The striped hatted man smiled lightly, opening the door to his secret underground training facilities. "Please come with me then, and we will try to figure out what your powers are." The small pink haired girl nodded, finally finding her resolve.

She would help her friends, no matter what.

* * *

"Kurosaki-kun, I'd like you to see something." Kisuke mentioned, hoping to distract the boy from his injured friend. He opened the door to the underground training facility and jumped down. "All of you are trying so hard to fight these enemies, and now you have another ally to fight with you."

"Go!" Karri shouted, letting the young red headed shop assistant, Jinta, fire random items into the air. All her focus was put on the item as it flew through the air until she would finally shout, "Disappear!!" And with that a golden light would surround the object, shining brightly until it imploded.

"She's been working pretty much nonstop for the past week. You've all been so preoccupied with the bounts, she simply wants to help you all." Kisuke mentioned, standing next to the shinigami substitute. "Her power is very interesting. Apparently her power is based around spiritual matter. Though she can't make any human object disappear she can make any spiritual object disappear."

Ichigo stared at his long time friend, still not sure what to say. "She can do...that?"

"Ah yes, and another interesting point about her power is that she doesn't simply make the item disappear, she actually erases the item and it's matter from all existence. Almost as if it never existed in the first place." The former captain watched as another small item disappeared, his chin resting in his hand. "I've never actually seen something quite like this. It makes me wonder if Inoue-san's Shun Shun Rikka could even defeat this power."

"Go!" She shouted once more, watching the air above her for the next item to be launched for her, but nothing came. "Jinta-kun, what are you doing?"

"We're out of things for you to destroy!" He shouted back, picking up the empty box and heading for the ladder. "You shouldn't do this so much anyway, you haven't gotten any better!"

Finding enough energy, she jumped around frustratedly. "Come back and say that to Karri-Karri's face, Jinta-kun! Jinta-kun's such a brat!"

"Bite me!" Jinta shouted in reply, quickly disappearing up the ladder.

Sticking out her tongue one last time in the young boys direction, she let herself fall to the ground. Working so much had really taken a toll on her, but for now she could rest. Just then she noticed the dear friend of hers that had come there. "Wah! Berry-chan!" She shouted, jumping up and running over to crush Ichigo in a hug. "Did you see what Karri-Karri can do now?! Karri-Karri can finally help Berry-chan and MonMon-chan!"

He smiled at her and pat her head. "You're doing great, Karri."

"Yay! Karri-Karri's so happy!" She cried, hugging him tighter. She continued to cuddle her neighbor for a minute before releasing him and looking at Kisuke. "Haaaat-chaaan! Karri-Karri's done for now, but thank you very much for letting Karri-Karri use Hat-chan's things!"

"Any time!" He smiled, watching the girl disappear up the ladder. He then turned to Ichigo, another serious topic on mind.

* * *

Karri sat at the table, staring idly at the tea that had been placed in front of her. She wasn't intending to be rude, but she didn't quite have the stomach to handle anything at the moment. Though she might have been training hard, everyone else had been running into so many problems. Especially Renji.

"MonMon-chan..." She mumbled, feeling increasingly useless. Here he was, completely torn up about this boy who was attacked, and she couldn't do anything to help him. Ichigo had tried to help him, but she could still sense that he wasn't feeling good. "MonMon-chan, c'mon." Karri mentioned, tugging his hand lightly.

The red head followed her to the store front, where they were alone. She then proceeded to envelop him in a tight hug. "Karri...what's wrong?" He asked, looking down at the young woman who had attached herself to his waist.

"MonMon-chan is sad!" She held him tighter and looked up at his face. "But...MonMon-chan did his best to save the boy, didn't he?"

Renji looked away from her for a moment, nodding slightly. "But I should have done better." A punch to the gut startled the shinigami lieutenant a bit. "What the hell was that for?!"

She punched him again. "MonMon-chan's so stupid!! If MonMon-chan did his best, then why should he have done more?! MonMon-chan can work hard to make his best even better, but if he does his best then that's all he can do right now!" The punches seemed to get lighter and lighter until eventually she just had her fist resting against his chest.

Taking in what she had said, he held her closer. "Yeah, you're right, Karri."

She rested even more comfortably against his chest, feeling another wave of exhaustion wash over her. "Good, Karri-Karri doesn't want MonMon-chan to be sad..." She mumbled, closing her eyes for a moment.

They stood together like that for a moment, neither one saying a word, just enjoying each others company. It really had been a while since they'd seen each other; Renji realized just how much he had been missing her. "Karri...?" He asked, looking down at the surprisingly peaceful girl. "Karri, we should go back."

A light snore was heard from the small pink haired girl, as she leaned all her weight onto him. He sighed lightly, picking up the girl bridal style and carrying her back into the room to join their friends.

* * *

Aww, how cute! She's like a five year old.

"Am not..." Karri argued in her sleep, rolling over so she was face down.

Right, well, you are right now.


	7. Chapter 7

I'm just gonna start by saying, it's not my fault!

"What's not Narrator-chan's fault?" Karri asked, looking over at the Narrator from her death grip on Hunny.

I'm not sure anymore…Hey! Play nice with Hunny, my poor bunny can't take much more abuse!

The pink haired girl looked at her friend strangely. "Narrator-chan does realize it's a stuffed animal, right?"

…Maybe…

* * *

Renji groaned lightly, not exactly ready to wake up, but knowing that he had to. Sunlight beat down on his sensitive eyes. For a moment he thought he saw Karri attempting to feed her lap her breakfast. He blinked twice to clear his vision.

Yep, she was definitely pouring spoonfuls of cereal into her lap.

"Karri?" The red head called, sitting up properly on the couch and watching her tiredly. "Karri, I don't think your lap's very hungry."

Karri suddenly seemed to snap out of her daze. "Oh! S-sorry, MonMon-chan, Karri-Karri was just thinking about something…"

Walking over to her he kissed her forehead lightly before taking the cereal and shoveling a large spoonful into his mouth. "Don't think too hard."

"Karri-Karri will try…" After another moment of silence she seemed to realize that something was missing. "Hey! MonMon-chan stole Karri-Karri's breakfast!"

"Eat what you have first." He snickered, watching her face go bright red as she noticed the cereal in her lap.

Their peaceful morning, however, was cut short as a specific orange haired shinigami substitute walked through the front door. Unlike most mornings when he'd walk in with a small smile or an annoyed scowl, today his expression held nothing but seriousness. "Berry-chan, what's wrong?" Karri asked, immediately forgetting her own cereal troubles.

"We're going to the bounts hide out." Ichigo stated, looking away from the both of them. "We need to leave now."

Karri grinned uncomfortably, trying to lighten the mood just a bit. "Okay, Berry-chan! Just let Karri-Karri get changed into something else real quick." She then darted up the stairs, taking the three by three, and running to her room.

It wasn't something she wanted to let everyone else know, but her heart was beating harder than it ever had. She was completely terrified of what was going to come, scared of the battles her friends would face, scared of her own battles too, but mostly scared that she would have to kill more people.

Quickly converting her expression back to a happy one, she pulled out two random items of clothing and tossed them on. Karri then ran back downstairs, doing a flip off of the second to last step and landing in front of her neighbor. "Okay, Berry-chan, Karri-Karri's ready!" She smiled brightly, pushing down her own nervousness to at least try to reassure her friends.

Ichigo nodded at her, turning to Renji as he popped in a piece of soul candy. "Let's go."

* * *

Six figures slowly made their ways through the darkness, each and every one of them alert and aware. Karri looked around nervously; why hadn't anything happened yet? They had gotten the right cave…right?

Suddenly, she noticed something shifting through the shadows. Karri could feel her heart beat increase, but she simply repressed that fear and followed the unknown thing she had seen.

She seemed to wander for what felt like hours, but was in no way even close to that, before finding a bright light ahead. Looking back into the darkness, she finally realized that her friends were not with her. "Oh no…" She thought, staring fearfully into the darkness. "Karri-Karri is…alone…"

In a split second she found a sword to her throat and a hand restraining hers. "Looks like Ugaki missed one." A man stated, looking down at the small girl. He flash stepped into the large room that was inhabited with many other bounts Karri hadn't seen before. "Kariya-sama, what would you like me to do with this woman?"

"He must be the one in charge." Karri thought, watching silently as the white haired man came over to inspect her. A dangerous aura seemed to surround him. Though her heartbeat was racing, she still held a firm, determined expression.

One of the bounts to the side scoffed and looked at her disdainfully. "Kill her; we don't need a worthless human around here."

The taller one looked down at the woman. "Now, Yoshi, don't you remember that she was the one to kill Hō and Ban?"

"That doesn't mean anything." The old man grumbled. "Those two children were completely worthless."

Kariya merely glanced at the other bounts to silence them. "This girl will prove more useful alive. Ichinose, hold her there, and be careful to make sure she does not speak; that could be a problem if she is able to use her powers. Although if she proves to be more troublesome you may kill her."

"Yes, Kariya-sama." Ichinose nodded, pulling Karri over to the gate with him and placing his blade to her throat. "Utter so much as one syllable and I will slit your throat, do you understand?"

Nodding slightly, the pink haired girl watched the entrance to the room carefully waiting to see Renji and Ichigo and everyone else. They had to show up sometime, right?

* * *

A bright smile covered Karri's face as she watched a familiar mop of orange hair run into the room. "Be—" She quickly stopped what she was about to say as she felt the blade press closer against her neck.

"Karri!!" Ichigo shouted, watching his friend in her current predicament. He pulled out his large blade and pointed it at Ichinose. "Let her go!"

Ignoring the demands of the teenager, Kariya turned to the other bounts. "Begin the preparations."

Koga nodded and began reciting a strange chant. Kariya then disappeared for a moment, reappearing in front of the substitute shinigami and kicking him into the wall. Karri shifted against her captor, forgetting the threat that was being pressed even closer to her neck. "Berry-chan!!" She called, watching as Kariya stopped Ichigo's sword with his bare hand.

It seemed hopeless. Everything Ichigo did was useless against Kariya's sheer power.

Ichigo lay on the floor next to his zanpakutō, not having the strength to reach for it. Kariya was busy explaining the history of the bounts, but Karri didn't care about that. She could only stare in horror as her close friend lay helpless and injured on the floor. Was this really it? No, it couldn't be. Ichigo was stronger than that. Karri shouldn't have been worrying about him; she should have been cheering for him and believing in his strength.

And that's what she would do. "Berry-chan can do it!" She shouted, ignoring the blood that was now dripping from her neck. "Karri-Karri believes in Berry-chan!!"

"Shut up!" Ichinose shouted, placing his hand over her mouth.

Ichigo grabbed his sword, powering up for a moment before releasing a large blast directly at Kariya. Much to his dismay, Kariya blocks it single handedly.

"Berry-chan…!" Karri thought watching again as Kariya began beating the orange haired shinigami senseless. She closed her eyes, not willing to watch this battle any longer.

"The fool is going to lose. He doesn't have the power to take on Kariya-sama." Ichinose mumbled, watching the battle intently. "Just give up all hope of him wining."

Looking up at him angrily, Karri freed her mouth from his grip. "Berry-chan won't give up because he knows he's stronger! He's going to show you all!"

It seemed almost like magic; at that moment a powerful reiatsu filled the room, a reiatsu that belonged to none other than Ichigo. Karri and Ichinose both turned their attentions back to the battle, more excitedly watching the two resume their fight. She knew it, Ichigo was stronger than that! As the battle continued, Ichigo actually landed some blows.

Suddenly, a shot was fired between the two of them. Stopping the battle, they both looked at the one who had fired the shot. "Ishida-san!" Karri shouted, watching as he and everyone else appeared.

"Karri-chan!" Orihime called, noticing her friend being held captive.

Uryū powered up his arrow and aimed it at the head bount. "I can't be the only burden forever." He said, glancing at Ichigo for a moment.

"Finish the preparations." Kariya said, looking back at the other bounts for a moment before turning to the Quincy. "I'll handle this."

Ichinose nodded, dragging Karri with him as he moved to do as his master had ordered. Karri watched as Koga finished opening the gate. Everyone then turned their attentions to Uryū. He held the arrow, pointing it Kariya still, but releasing it at the gate at the last minute.

"Disappear!!" Karri shouted, aiming for the arrow, but the arrow hit the gate before it could be destroyed. "Dammit…" She hissed, feeling Ichinose's hand clamp over her mouth.

The gate lit up as all the bounts watched it happily. "Thank you, Ishida. We couldn't have done this without you." Kariya grinned evilly, turning to the gate and stepping through it.

Karri began struggling, not wanting to go through the gate with the bounts. "D-disappear!!" She shouted, focusing on the sword at her throat.

The blade began glowing a bright gold colour. But before it could implode Ichinose had already thrown the small teenager to the side and disappeared through the gate. "Karri!" Ichigo called, catching her before she hit the ground.

"Th-thanks, Berry-chan." She smiled weakly, staring up at her neighbor.

He smiled softly at her as he set her on her feet. "Yeah…"

Orihime ran over to her friends, panicking slightly at the blood that was still dripping from Karri's neck. "Karri-chan, just hold still for a moment." Calling out Ayame and Shun'ō, she healed the wound on her friend.

Karri smiled brightly at the two small faeries. "Thank you, Ayame-chan, Shun'ō-chan!" She then turned to her long time friend and pulling her into a tight hug. "Thank you, too, Hime-chan!"

The bustier teen smiled softly at her. "You're welcome, Karri-chan."

Their moment was quickly cut short when Renji entered the room. "MonMon-chan!!!" Karri yelled, running over to him as fast as she could and tackling him to the ground. "Karri-Karri missed MonMon-chan so much! Is MonMon-chan alright? MonMon-chan is hurt!!"

"Don't worry; I'm alright, Karri-chan." He reassured her by kissing her lightly on her lips.

The sound of someone clearing their throat broke apart Renji and Karri's moment. The small teen looked up and stared at the beautiful man standing next to the two of them. "I believe we should be going after them now." He mentioned.

"Waaah…so pretty!" Karri mumbled to herself. A bright smile covered her features as she stared at Yumichika. "Okay, Pretty-chan! We can go."

He stopped for a moment before picking up the small girl and hugging her tightly. "Oh, aren't you adorable! Truly someone who knows beautiful things when she sees them! And quite a beauty yourself at that!"

"Hey, Ayasegawa, give her back!" Renji said, a bit jealous that he was holding her so close.

"No! She's far too beautiful to be left in your hands." Yumichika retorted, only holding her closer.

"She's my girlfriend!"

"A beauty like her deserves better!"

"Karri—"

They were both cut off as Ichigo tugged her out of Yumichika's hands and tossed her over his shoulder. "Let's go."

"Okay, Berry-chan!" Karri smiled happily, swinging her legs lightly as they walked through the gate to a new world.

* * *

Okay, that's all for now!

"Hehehe, Pretty-chan is nice, and MonMon-chan finally came! Karri-Karri's happy now." Karri smiled at the Narrator.

And just wait until the next chapter. The real fun begins in Seireitei!


	8. Chapter 8

I really wish I had more time to do things.

"Well, Karri-Karri's sure everyone appreciates all the time Narrator-chan puts into her stories!" Karri grinned, grabbing the tired Narrator and forcing her face into a smile.

I mean for these stories too. I wish I had more time for work, and my friends, and these stories…That's it! I'll clone myself! Oh, me, my brilliance astounds me!

"If…if Narrator-chan says so…" Karri chuckled, scratching the back of her head.

* * *

Large honey eyes stared curiously at everything around them. The buildings looked so strange, and everything felt different then the human world. "MonMon-chan, where are you? Berry-chan? You too, Hime-chan! Rukia-chan? Sado-kun? Ishida-san! Pretty-chan?! Where is everybody?" Karri had, once again, gotten herself separated from her friends, and rather lost.

Everyone around seemed to avoid the young girl as she walked through the busy streets. Though she wasn't that concerned with the random passer-byers at the moment. It had been a couple days since she'd gotten separated, and she was feeling rather tired and hungry. Not to mention a bit lonely. A few people she'd met along the way had been nice enough to let her stay the night and have a nice meal, but it wasn't that comforting without knowing her friends were safe.

She'd found herself leaving the busy streets and ending up on a more forested path. An agitated feeling set in as she looked around. "Renji!! Ichigo!! Somebody!!!" The shout was enough to scare away the few birds that had been roosting in the trees around her.

"Did you say Ichigo?" A gruff voice caught her by surprise as she turned around to come face to stomach with a very tall man. "Did you mean Kurosaki Ichigo?"

"You know Berry-chan?!" Karri smiled brightly up at him, bouncing slightly on her heels. "Could you help Karri-Karri find him? Karri-Karri's been lost since she first came here!"

A mess of pink hair popped up from over his shoulder and looked down at the other pink haired girl. "Ichi-chan is here? Then Ken-chan can fight him again and have lots of fun! Maybe if we bring Karri-Karri-chan with us then we can get Ichi-chan to fight you, Ken-chan!"

The large man seemed to take a moment to think about that. "Yeah…Come with me, kid, I'll take you to Ichigo."

"Okay, Bell-chan! Thank you very much!" The human girl's smile only seemed to widen as she too jumped on Kenpachi's back.

Yachiru jumped on Karri's head, pointing in some random direction. "It's this way, Ken-chan! I'm sure of it!"

Karri peaked up over his shoulder and noticed the much smaller pink haired girl was pointing in a direction that lead directly off of a cliff. "Uh…Karri-Karri just came from there!! Yeah! And Berry-chan wasn't there," she then pointed toward the path that lead deeper into the forest, "but what about that way?"

"Ken-chan only listens to me!" Yachiru pouted, a bit defeated that her direction had already been proven wrong. "…Then let's go that way!"

Giggling lightly at the fact that the small girl had just pointed in the direction that she had, Karri grinned. "Very good idea, Pink-chan! Pink-chan has a very good sense of direction!"

A smug look found its way across the small shinigami's features. "Of course! I'm always right!"

The three of them travelled at a lightning fast pace, but that proved to be rather useless considering they all had a sense of direction of a drunk bum in a box that was carted off in a spinning wheel to the middle of the desert and then beaten with a stick until they couldn't see straight. Or something similar to that extent.

"Ah! Wait!" Karri called, looking around carefully. Pulling herself higher on Kenpachi's shoulder, she sniffed the air.

Yachiru sniffed the air as well. "I don't smell anything. Let's keep going."

The large captain looked in the direction that Karri was sniffing. "I woulda missed that…"

"MonMon-chan is that way! And I bet Berry-chan is too!" A bright smile spread across her face as she bounced excitedly.

Kenpachi frowned slightly. "And someone else familiar is there too."

They shot off again, quickly closing in on their friends. A bright light blinded the human girl as they approached, but it suddenly faded as Kenpachi's sword clashed with Ichinose's.

Karri fell off of the strong captain's shoulder and was quickly caught by Sado. "Sado-kun!" She grinned, hugging him tightly.

Smiling and waving at Orihime, Yachiru seemed to take notice that Renji was there. "Wow, Karri-Karri-chan, you've got a good nose!"

She nodded at the small lieutenant for a moment before jumping out of Sado's arms and running over to her red headed lover. "MonMon-chan! Karri-Karri got lost! And she went through lots of villages and met lots of nice people, and met Bell-chan and Pink-chan and they helped her find all of you guys!"

Slight shock was evident on Renji's features, but he quickly seemed to snap back into reality and take hold of the young ryoka. "You're okay…"

"Of course Karri-Karri's okay." A soft smile danced on her lips as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "It was MonMon-chan she was worried about…"

Ichigo cleared his throat to gain the attention of the two of them. "We need to go, now. We're going to the Seireitei."

Nodding lightly, they released each other and began heading in the direction of the gate, but Karri stopped and turned back to Kenpachi and Yachiru. The lieutenant looked at her curiously. "What is it, Karri-Karri-chan?"

"…Karri-Karri knows that Bell-chan doesn't need it," She smiled at both of them. "But, good luck! Karri-Karri hopes Bell-chan has much fun with this fight!" And with that she turned around, running over to Ichigo and Renji who were both waiting for her.

"C'mon, Karri." Ichigo smiled, hoisting the small girl onto his back so he could quickly catch up with everyone else. Renji huffed for a moment, before running next to both of them.

* * *

What is with you and getting lost, Karri?

"What's with Narrator-chan and…um…procrastinating?" Karri stared back at Narrator.

Touché.

* * *

The group quickly made it to the west gate in time to watch Kariya use his wooden machine to force open the gate.

"Stop, Kariya!!" Karri called, jumping down from Ichigo's back.

He merely smirked back at her as he and his fellow bounts walked through the now open gate. Though many shinigami had come to stop him, he quickly blew all of them away using his doll. The bount leader then turned on the wooden machine and the people he had enlisted to help him make it and blew them all away as well.

Running as quickly as she could, Karri still just missed the gate as it closed. "Dammit…" She hissed.

Renji placed his hand reassuringly on her shoulder. "We'll get him, don't worry."

She nodded at him, still disappointed that he had gotten away. Orihime quickly went to help the large shinigami that had apparently been cut down by Kariya before they had gotten there. But Karri continued to stare at the gargantuan stone gate that was blocking their way to the bounts.

The bounts used soul particles to power up, (or so she had been told), and her powers seemed to work on items made of soul particles…So, why couldn't she just make this gate disappear too?

She stood back a bit, taking a moment to take in the size of the item she would be erasing from existence. Holding out her hands, she put all focus on the gate. "Disappear!!!"

A bright, golden light started from the bottom of the door until the entire stone object glowed before said object then imploded on itself. Everyone stared in awe at the blank space where the gate had been; no one expected that kind of power to come from the tiny human girl.

"Karri…you—" Ichigo was quickly cut off as his neighbor grabbed the small bird stuffed animal on his shoulder and ran off.

"Sorry, Berry-chan!" Karri called over her shoulder, "disappearing" small holes into the walls in her path too small for Ichigo or Renji to fit through. "It's something Karri-Karri has to do!"

The small bird in her hands struggled relentlessly. "What are you doing?! We need to go back to Ichigo!"

Shaking her head, the pink haired girl continued running. "No…Karri-Karri can't! Karri-Karri can end these battles quickly, and without anyone getting hurt…" Her lips trembled as she thought of the fact that she would have to kill others again. But her resolve was to help her friends, no matter what, and so she would. "Please, Bird-chan, help Karri-Karri find the bounts so no one else has to get hurt."

Rinrin could see the determination behind the fear. She admired just how much Karri was willing to do for Ichigo and the others. "The closest one is about four walls through to your right. Be careful though, Karri-san."

A reassuring smile graced the fearful human's features as she placed the bird on her shoulder. "Karri-Karri will! Don't worry about her…" She looked caringly at the plushie that was accompanying her. "But thank you."

The two quickly found themselves face to face with a certain orange haired bount. "You!!" He shouted in surprise as the young female stood upright and glared at him. "Rizu, go!"

Moving at a lightning fast pace, the doll flew over to them. Karri was just as quick to dodge, rolling to the side and focusing her powers on the bount himself. "Disappear!!!"

Mabashi's eyes widened in fear as a golden light began enveloping him. "N-no!! No! This can't—I can't…Ahhh!!!" He cried, suddenly imploding on himself. His doll, as well, began glowing brightly before just disappearing.

Rinrin carefully hugged Karri's shoulder as she stared blankly at the empty spot where Mabashi once stood. "It's okay."

"…Right." The human forced a smile and turned to the stuffed animal. "So, where's the next one?"

* * *

Only four more to go!

"Oh…Four more…" Karri's expression didn't exactly seem happy.

Yeah, then you get to have all the time in the world with Renji!

A smile spread carefully across her features as she thought of time with Renji. "Now, that does seem nice."


	9. Chapter 9

"Is…is it almost over?" Karri asked, watching the Narrator curiously.

Almost. You're doing really well, Karri. Just be patient.

She smiled lightly. "Okay!"

* * *

"Disappear!" A large hole formed in the wall, drawing the attentions of the elderly bount and the mad captain of the twelfth division. Karri ran through the hole, passing the frightening shinigami and approaching the bount.

Mayuri watched the girl, intrigued by her actions. "What do you think you're doing, child? A ryoka like you cannot take on a bount."

Sighing frustratedly, Sawatari turned his attention to the tiny human. "Baura, devour this nuisance!"

Rolling to the side to dodge the large whale's attack, Karri focused on the doll and the man fused to it. "Disappear!!"

Not willing to watch another death, she then turned away and ran towards the next bount. "It's this way, just run a little bit further." Rinrin mentioned, clinging to the pink haired teens shoulder. She nodded in reply, running faster as she disappeared through another wall. "There's…something else there!"

"Who…?" Stopping in her tracks, the teen stared at her fellow schoolmate. "Ishida…san?"

"Suigashi, get out of here!!" Uryū shouted, attempting to shoot Yoshi.

The intimidating bount quickly dodged Uryū's attack, throwing her fan and wrapping the chain around the teenage girl. "Humph! Some kind of useful human she is…I should just destroy you now…" Yoshi muttered, pulling the human up and holding her sword to her throat.

Charging up another arrow the Quincy glared at her. "Release her now."

Much to his surprise, Uryū saw Karri flash a quick, forced smile in his direction. "Disappear!" The teen was dropped as Yoshi and her doll both glowed brightly for a moment before doing just as was commanded of them.

"Suigashi…when did you…?" Uryū approached the small girl, who was currently kneeling on the ground and catching her breath.

"K-Karri-Karri's fine…Don't worry, Ishida-san." She smiled, picking up Rinrin and placing her back on her shoulder. "Is Ishida-san alright?" Pushing up his glasses, he nodded. "That's good. Now, Karri-Karri has to go save everyone. Bye!"

The small bird pointed back towards where she'd come from. "The last two are that way!"

Nodding at the stuffed animal, Karri started running as fast as she could. Uryū ran next to her, focusing on the bounts. "I'm coming with." He mentioned.

"Okay…" Smiling tiredly at her friend, she demolished a few more holes in the walls.

Eventually, the two made it to the two remaining bounts. "Kariya! You die now!" Karri yelled, focusing all her attention on him. "Disappear!!"

He was quick though, dodging her attack without any problems. "You won't be able to catch me."

Kariya appeared in front of her, punching her in the chest and sending her flying back. "Karri!!" Ichigo shouted, finding her just in time to catch her before she could receive any serious damage. She looked up at him and smiled weakly.

Several arrows flew past them, Ichigo having to jump to avoid them. Uryū continued battling Kariya, constantly moving and firing from different directions, but the bount leader effortlessly dodged all of them. The battle seemed almost too fast for Karri's eyes to keep up, but she still watched it intently, waiting for her moment to move.

Ichigo set her down safely, intending to help Uryū in his fight. "Just stay here, alright? I don't want you to get hurt."

"Karri-Karri won't get hurt…Don't worry, Berry-chan. Everything will be okay." Karri smiled reassuringly at him, placing a hand to his cheek. It had to be okay. They could then go back to Karakura town, and she could go back to school, and it would be just like before…Well, it would be almost the same except the family would be a little bit bigger.

"Right." He smiled back at her. Everything had to be okay, she was, for all intents and purposes, one of his sisters, and he wouldn't be able to stand seeing her hurt.

Watching as Ichigo joined the battle, Karri forgot what was going on around her. She didn't even notice when Koga appeared next to her. "You wish to stop Kariya, correct?"

She nodded, staring up at the large man. "But Karri-Karri can't stay focused on him for long enough…Kariya moves too fast."

A heavy sigh was heard from the bount next to her. "I'll help you. But we only have one shot."

"Thank you!" She smiled brightly, hugging him tightly for a moment. "Karri-Karri will always remember this, bount-san."

He nodded for a moment, smiling lightly down at her. "I'll grab him, and when I do, you finish him off."

Honey eyes grew wide for a moment. "But if bount-san holds Kariya, then Karri-Karri might have to make bount-san disappear too!!"

"If that's the case…then do it. We can't let Kariya continue this." Koga stated, summoning Daruku and telling her to take hold of Ichigo and Uryū. "Now, let's do this."

Karri watched with wide, tearful eyes as the large bount ran at his leader, taking him in a firm hold. "And what will you do, Koga? Will you sacrifice yourself for mere shinigami; the very people who sought to destroy us?"

"No." He replied shortly, turning to face Karri. "I'm doing this for the innocent people who had no idea of what happened. I'm doing this for people like her." They looked at the small human girl as she shook. "Do it now!!"

"B-but…" She could see the serious look that Koga was currently directing at her. Despite how much she didn't want Koga to die, she knew this had to be done. Running closer to them, she made sure to focus solely on Kariya. "D…d-dis…DISAPPEAR!!"

The golden light swallowed up the bount leader, starting at his feet and traveling upward, cover his entire body. A pang of hope spread through Karri's chest as she watched only Kariya become swallowed up in the light. Maybe Koga would survive, and he could go on living his life without Kariya's influence.

But, much to her horror, the light spread to the large bount as well. Running from his arms, down to his chest and enveloping his entire body as well. Daruku released Ichigo and Uryū, rushing to her partner's side as she too was swallowed with the light.

"Karri-Karri's sorry…" Karri whispered, watching the three of them suddenly implode. "…I-I'm so sorry…!!"

"Karri!!" Ichigo rushed to her side, holding her in his arms as she cried. Not knowing what to say, he simply held her, rubbing her back soothingly as she trembled and sobbed.

Uryū stood next to them, staring blankly at the spot where the other bounts had been. "It's done. We should go find the others."

Nodding in reply, Ichigo picked up his crying friend and headed for where he sensed Renji's reiatsu.

* * *

Staring in surprise, Renji hurried over to Ichigo and Karri. He carefully took her into his arms, gently caressing her cheek. Staring up at the substitute shinigami, his features became serious. "What happened to her?"

"She finished it." Ichigo sighed, his eyes a bit softer as he stared at his neighbor. "The bounts are gone, and Soul Society is safe."

"Karri…" Holding her closer, he let her cling to his chest, sobbing into it.

"A power like hers could be a great help to us for Aizen's war." Everyone looked over to see Tōshirō watching the human girl as she shook.

She clung to Renji's chest; her sobs seemed almost endless. Renji cradled her softly, tenderly running his fingers through her hair. "Do you see how much this hurts her? Karri's not meant to be anywhere close to battles." Ichigo stated, watching the two hold each other for a moment before turning his gaze to the tenth division captain.

"We can leave her to live life like a normal human." Rukia said, watching the teen cling to Renji. "It would be the best for everyone."

"It would keep her safe, and she'd never have to see death like that again." Renji mumbled, rubbing her back softly.

Her body shook for a moment as she desperately clung closer to him. "D-don't leave K-Karri-Karri alone!"

Placing a light kiss on the top of her head, he sighed. "You won't be alone for long…"

Sucking in a deep breath to calm herself, she looked up at him. "…Just…promise Karri-Karri…y-you will come back."

He pressed their lips together, softly and gently, careful to make his feelings known through the small gesture. "I promise. I will come back for you." He stared into her tear stained eyes, forgetting the world around them and only focusing on her. "Wait for me."

"…Okay." Karri's voice cracked. "Karri-Karri will wait. Karri-Karri will wait forever if she has to."

Holding her closer once again, Renji smiled lightly. "You won't have to."

* * *

That's it, that's the last chapter of It All Started with a Monkey.

"What?!!" Karri stared incredulously at the Narrator. "B-but Narrator-chan can't end it there!!"

Who said anything about the end? There's an epilogue! I wouldn't actually end the story there.

"Oh, thank goodness…Narrator-chan almost gave Karri-Karri a heart attack." Karri grinned, rubbing her chest lightly.

Haha, well, I'm not completely evil, thank you.


	10. Epilogue

This is my first time trying one of these epilogue things, but this just screamed to be written.

"And Karri-Karri wouldn't be happy if you had left it where it had ended in the last chapter." Karri commented, nodding her head approvingly.

Yup...so, shall we?

_...Just...promise Karri-Karri....y-you will come back._

It had been exactly three and a half years to the day since _she_ had last seen him. Quite a long time for most people to wait, but for some reason, it never bothered her. In her mind each and every day could be the day that they were coming home. Yes, all of them were still gone. Uryū, Sado, Orihime, Ichigo...and him. The war must have been a terrible one, considering how very little they ever returned.

In fact, the last to return were Sado and Orihime. They had been fighting too hard, and were becoming more of a burden on the battlefield. So they were allowed a week at home to recuperate.

_She_ never got to see either of them even when they were there...But, it's okay. _She_ knew that they were doing well, and that was good enough for her.

Things at school had become quite distant. It was almost as if everyone was growing even further apart. With Orihime gone, Tatsuki was no longer herself, caught up in her own worry over Orihime. She was distant, cold, set apart from the rest of the girls. _She_ had tried to keep Tatsuki in good spirits, but it proved to be a rather fruitless effort. And Keigo and Mizuro had moved their own separate ways. It was hard for her to watch all of this happening before her eyes, but _she_ could do nothing to stop it.

Sure, _she _would wave to Mizuro when they passed in the halls, have a light conversation with Keigo every now and then, even visit Tatsuki on the occasional Saturday night, but it never seemed to be good enough.

So _she_ just tried to move on with her own life. With college, her job at a certain boutique at the mall, and juggling everything an average young woman would, _she_ was quite occupied for the majority of the time. But, somehow, _she_ still tried her hardest to make time for the family. No, not her own, _she_ and her father were still at ends, but Ichigo's. _She_ could tell just how difficult it was for them, and tried her hardest to help. Isshin seemed to be holding things together fairly well, still playing the goofy father act, though at some times, it was obvious just how difficult it was for him in particular.

And Karin, well, Karin was still Karin. The rough, tomboyish, soccer-loving, loner. It wasn't a bad thing, in fact, most had expected this. But she still had that bad habit of bottling things up, and hiding it all behind a scowling mask. Though, all in all, Karin was holding out strong, and _she_ couldn't help but feel very proud.

Yuzu, on the other hand, was still quite the little worry-wort. On more than one occasion _she'd_ heard knocking on _her_ door and opened it only to be tackled by a sobbing Yuzu, wanting nothing more than to have her big brother back. And yet, despite her weaker moments, she was still taking care of her own family, and _her_. So, everyone seemed to agree, Yuzu was growing up well...

"Hey, Karri-chan!" Mahana called from across the courtyard, waving her arm to get her friends attention. "Class is gonna start in a minute, c'mon!"

Honey brown eyes fixed on the four girls across the snow covered yard, Mahana, Ryo, Michiru, and Chizuru. The light smile on her features grew a bit. "All of you go on ahead, don't worry."

"Just make sure you're not late, cutie-chan!" Chizuru giggled, turning with the rest of them to leave. Yes, ever since Orihime left, Chizuru had grown affections for her.

Chuckling to herself, she turned toward the sun once again, soaking up the warmth of the star. The wind picked up a bit, causing her natural, soft, brown hair to slide over her features, blocking the beauty of that particular winter afternoon. A soft, light layer of snow had settled across the entire campus, causing everything to sparkle with the sunlight that shone brightly that particular day.

She loved days like those. Not only because the sun reflecting off of the snow was spectacular, but because the last time she saw him was on a day like that.

_Moshi atashi ga houkiboshi ni nareta naraba sora kakenuke tonde iku, donna..._

The sound of her cell phone ringtone pulled her from her thoughts, and she began fumbling with her books and papers to pull out her cell phone. "Unknown number?" She mumbled to herself, eyeing the small, neon green phone. "Hello?"

"Karri, is that you?" A male voice asked. The voice seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on who it was.

"Yes, but who is this?" She asked, fiddling lightly with one of her many cell phone charms.

"Don't recognize me, huh?" The man on the other side seemed rather amused. "Can't blame you now, can I? Well, why don't you turn around and see if you remember me then..."

Her heart skipped a beat, and in her throat a large lump was forming. Pushing down the feeling of butterflies fluttering around in her stomach, she closed the small phone and sucked in a deep breath. Closing her eyes as she turned around, waiting for the sound of her heart pounding in her ears to settle just a bit before opening those honey eyes and finding them drawn to darker brown eyes. "Renji..."

"Miss me?" He smirked, stuffing his own cell phone into his jeans pocket.

Her cell phone, and everything else that was in her grasps, for that matter, were left in the cold snow, as their owner ran across the snow covered courtyard, jumping onto the arms of her red headed lover.

He muttered a quick, "Oh fuck!" as the two of them fell over, landing softly in the icy cold substance covering the ground. Messily, and roughly, she crashed their lips together, releasing three years worth of bottled up passion in one powerful kiss. And in that single moment nothing mattered. It was almost as if there never even had been any war, there was no school or college, or even a difference between shinigami and humans! It only two people in love...and that's it.

"Renji..." She breathed, pressing her forehead against his and staring lovingly into his eyes. Her soft pink lips twitched a bit as she hesitated with what she was going to say next.

"...I've been waiting..."

* * *

And yes, that is--

"The end! That's all it needs!" Karri smiled, hugging the Narrator tightly. "...Thank you!"

...Not a problem.


End file.
